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$800 in scholarships to be awarded
$400 each in the fiction and non-fiction categories

Write for The Voice and win money for your education.

The Voice is launching its second annual writing contest, with categories for both fiction, and non-fiction.

Non-Fiction: In 2000 words or less, write about any issue affecting students in post-secondary education today. You may write from a broad, world perspective, or focus specifically on Athabasca University or another Canadian school. You may discuss issues of gender, race, age, returning students, new students, campus violence, distance learning, etc. or introduce an issue we may not be very aware of. Feel free to use research or statistics in your article [with proper citations], or write a creative opinion piece.

Fiction: Free form – write a 2000 word or less fiction submission in any genre or any format. Short stories, poetry, a scene from a play, even a comic. Be creative!

Please read the contest rules and regulations and submission guidelines very carefully to ensure you are not disqualified. It’s free to enter. The length limits are firm. To make it fair for everyone, all submissions that are over length will be returned to the writer for editing. Good luck!

Rules and Regulations:

Entrants must be students of Athabasca University. Student status will be confirmed with the AU registrar. Please ensure that the registrar has your current address and contact information. Winning entries will be published in an upcoming Voice issue. The Voice reserves the right to print non-winning entries at a rate of remuneration in accordance with current Voice freelance submission rates. The Voice may use portions of non winning non-fiction entries in a composite about students perspectives on post-secondary education today. No remuneration will be provided for such use.All decisions regarding this contest and the selection of winners remain with the judging panel and are final and binding.AU, AUSU, and Voice staff or council members are not eligible for the contest.Entries will be judged by a panel to be selected by the Voice Editor, and this panel may include: AU students, AU tutors, and/or AUSU council members. The panel will include at least 3 members. The Voice Editor will collect articles and oversee the judging, but will not be a judge.Entries must be original works which have not been printed or published elsewhere, and must not be course assignment papers or derivatives of. Entries must not contain any information that would make the identity of the author evident to judges. To insure fairness, all entries will be forwarded to the judging panel with a reference number attached, but no personally identifying information will be forwarded. The Voice Editor will keep the identity of the authors private until the contest closes. The Voice editor will keep a record of the authors of submissions, and will be the sole owner of this list. Entries will not be edited for grammar, spelling, or content, although The Voice Editor may black out any personally identifying information contained within the submission. Otherwise, entries will be forwarded to the judging panel, as is. All entries will be converted to use the same file format, font size and font style.The deadline for submissions in both categories will be October 31, 2004. The winner will be announced by November 30, 2004. The Voice reserves the right to extend either deadline if necessary.One grand prize winner will be selected in both the fiction and non-fiction categories. If no entries are received in one of the categories, the prize money will be returned to the Voice scholarship budget. Prizes will be awarded in the form of a cheque, payable in Canadian funds.The Voice reserves the right to add additional, secondary prizes.The Voice is not responsible for lost emails. The Voice editor will confirm receipt of all entries by email. Follow up if you do not receive a reply.All entrants agree to allow their name and city of residence to be printed, along with their submission, should it be selected as a winning entry. No further remuneration – beyond the contest prize – will be paid to the contest winner when their entry is printed.Entrants will be asked to sign a standard Release and Indemnity form; each prize winner agrees to release the Sponsor and its agents from any liability in connection with the prizes awarded in this contest.Any entrant found to be tampering with the contest results, or attempting to influence any of the judging members, or using any forums or other public communications media to advise others of which entry is theirs will be disqualified; or if The Voice editor determines, at her sole discretion, that any other form of tampering has been attempted, that entrant will be disqualified.No preference will be given to regular Voice writers. Entries will not identify the writer as a regular Voice contributor when sent to the judging panel.Where applicable, this contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws. Contest void where prohibited by law.

Submission Guidelines:Your submission must be an electronic file, sent as an attachment to email. Submissions sent as the body of an email will not be accepted. Contact voice@ausu.org if you require instructions on how to attach a file to an email.Submissions should be in Microsoft Word format [.doc], rich text format [.rtf] or plain text format [.txt]. If you use a Word Processor other than Word or work on a Mac computer, you can save a file in one of these alternate formats using the ‘save as’ function and selecting the desired format on the save menu. Contact The Voice editor if you require assistance in formatting your submission. Users of older Macs may have to send entries in HTML format.All entries must be under 2000 words, due to judging time constraints. Length will be determined by the Word Count feature in Microsoft Word. Your References and Citations section will not be included in the word count. References should be formatted consistently according to a standardized publishing style guide, such as the American Psychological Association (APA) or the MLA press style.Entries should not include unnecessary formatting such as drop caps, graphics [unless the graphic is integral to the work], or unusual fonts. Entries must be text – scans of hand written or typed documents will not be accepted.Submit your entry as an email attachment. The email should include the following information: Your full name, your AU student ID number, an email address and telephone number where we may contact you, your home address, the title of your entry, and whether you are submitting a fiction or non-fiction entry. Make sure non-fiction entries are based on the topic question detailed above. Fiction entries can be on any topic you like. Do not include your contact information within your article – but be sure to include a title. Entries will be judged on the following criteria:Non Fiction entries: will be judged on originality, creativity, accuracy, and how well your support your assertions with data or argument. You will also be judged on the presentation of your article, including professionalism, proper spelling, grammar and syntax, and readability. You may write in journalistic style or essay format.Fiction entries: will be judged on creativity, entertainment value, and the originality or your writing style. Regardless of the genre you choose, you will be judged on the effectiveness of your piece, and your technical writing skills.